Just For Tonight
by serenadreams
Summary: Just a random oneshot about Elena's thoughts during the AMAZING scene at the end of 3.08 "Ordinary People".


"Oh Damon, seriously?" She sighs when she sees Damon on her bed.

It's not that she's not happy to see him, she's _always _happy to see him. (Not that she'll ever admit it of course.) It's that these little moments in her bedroom at the end of a long day, have gotten progressively more intense each time.

And every time he looks at her in that way of his, like she's the only girl in the whole god damn world, her hard façade melts just a little more. He's slowly cracking at her resistance, at her armor. He's breaking her down, chip by chip, until she'll be left open and raw, cowering from his probing gaze.

She sighs because she's tired and she wants to sleep. She doesn't want to try to ignore the way her heart flutters whenever he's near, or the way it's getting harder and harder to look at him without her eyes flicking to his lips. She just wants to sleep.

"I got Mikael." He murmurs, watching her appraisingly.

Her eyebrows shoot up.

"What? How?" She asks, momentarily forgetting her Damon dilemma.

"No idea, I guess Katherine came through. The plan's in motion. I told you I hadit."

She raises her eyebrows and stares him down accusingly. It's hard to concentrate on scowling when he's sprawled across her bed, looking so deliciously comfortable. She wants to be mad at him. She really does, but she knows it's a lost cause. It's never taken before, after all.

"Go ahead, kick, yell, scream. I'm sure you've been planning your rant all day." He drawls.

She thinks about forcing herself to yell, pretending to be angry, pretending not to care when she catches that fleeting glimpse of hurt that will cross his eyes.

"I'm not going to yell at you." She sighs, walking towards the bed.

She's not going to pretend, not tonight.

"Why not? I went behind your back, freed Stefan. And you know what? My plan backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever."

She fusses with the pillow, smoothes down the comforter. Trying to put off the inevitable moment when she gives up and just climbs into bed with him.

"It's just now, he's a dick that's on our side." He smiles.

As if she could ever stay angry with him when he smiles at her like that.

"I'm not mad. I'm tired. I just… I want to go to bed." She hints, praying that he'll make it easy on her and just say goodnight and go.

Of course she knows he won't. And she doesn't want him to, not really.

She tries to yank the sheets out from under him, internally rolling her eyes at herself. What is she doing? She _knows _how this is going to end, and it's _not_ with him leaving. But she has to fight. She's tired and she so desperately wants to stop these games and give in, give in to _him. _But she can't, not yet, not now.

"You know, I think mikael's weapon is a stake, cos he mentioned something about it." He muses, staring at the ceiling, oblivious to her efforts.

"So then they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down." She says, a hint of irritation seeping into her voice. Why can't he just leave? Why can't he stop making her not _want _him to leave?

"Well then I was right." He says with a satisfied huff.

She rolls her eyes. He's like a child sometimes, a sweet, idiotic, vulnerable child.

Ok, she's done. She throws the duvet over his legs and flops down next to him, succumbing to the inevitable.

"After all that, the wall lead us to Mikael."

She tries to ignore the way his eyes rake along her bare skin as she settles down, tries to ignore the little flip in her stomach.

"Led us to more than just that. I think I got Rebekah on our side too." She says, sighing as her mind drifts to the blonde vampire. She almost feels sorry for the girl.

Damon's still watching her. She can feel his eyes burning into her, lighting her on fire from the inside out.

"Really?" He shifts, moving his body closer to hers and turning so it's easier to look at her.

She tries not to imagine how it would feel to let him pull her into his arms and hold her as she sleeps.

"What did you learn from her?"

"I learned that she's just a girl." She turns to look at him, her eyes catching his, soft and open. He stares back, never faltering.

"That she lost her mom too young and that she loves_ blindly _and _recklessly _even if it consumes her."

She wonders for a second, what she would have done if someone told her a year ago that she would be lying in her bed, talking to this man about love. She would have laughed in their face.

But now she can't think his name, without the word love drifting into her consciousness.

She shakes her head, when did it become Damon's name that was always on the tip of her tongue?

It's in that moment, that tired, intimate moment that she understands that she's really changed. She's opened her eyes, let Stefan fall off the pedestal she built for him, and let herself see him for who he really is. And the person she sees there, isn't who she wants to love. Isn't who she _does _love.

She turns to look at Damon, her mouth opening to say something more. But the words get lost in her throat as she catches his eyes. He's looking at her in wonder, slight confusion, and absolute adoration.

She looks down. It's not just this _version_ of Stefan she doesn't love anymore, it's Stefan himself. Her heart didn't listen to her brain, it went and let itself be captured by a wild blue eyed vampire.

She wants to kiss him, to pour her love for him into a soft brush of her lips against his. She wants to give in. She wants to stop fighting the inevitable. But she can't, not yet, not now.

She's snuggles down deeper into the blankets, getting a hold on her outlandish mind.

"You know when all is said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family." She murmurs.

He rolls his eyes, but she can see the emotion there, she can see that he agrees, understands. Why can't he go back to making it _hard_ to love him?

He grunts and turns on his side.

"You should tell that to my brother."

They're lying facing each other, and she's comfortable in that moment. She feels warm and safe.

She smiles at his comment, before sighing again and letting her eyes drift down to his lips, across his chest and back up to his intense gaze.

"I'm not mad at you for letting him out Damon." She admits. Maybe she'll just be honest for once, go one night, one conversation with him without lying.

She reaches for the light and flicks it off. Neither of them missing the significance of that move. She's ok with him being there, and she doesn't care if he knows it. Not right now. She's not going to kick him out. And while she's not ready to admit out loud how much she needs him, wants him, _loves him? _She's ready to admit it silently, ready to let him see in her small actions, the undying faith she has in him.

"I think you're going to be the one to save him from himself." She says softly.

She hold his eyes as she speaks, the half light making them even more beautiful.

"It won't be because he loves me. It will be because he loves you." _As do I. _She wants to add.

He seems to drift into another world for a moment, his eyes glazing over as he stares at nothing. The moment is calm and peaceful, companionable.

"Can I tell you the rest tomorrow?" She asks quietly, moving just a little closer to him and nuzzling into her pillow.

She really is tired. Not just of fighting and lying.

He looks back at her, his expression so soft and full of love that she feels her heart skip a beat and swell a little. Silently replying to his unspoken _I love you. _

"Sure." He whispers.

She closes her eyes and finds herself feeling comfortable with him watching her. He's her protector, there to keep her safe, to love her, to accept her for who she is.

She trusts him so completely. He's a vampire who could kill her with a flick of his wrist. He's a man who could take her, without her consent. But she trusts him with everything she has. If there's one thing in the world that she's sure of, it's that she'll always be safe with Damon Salvatore.

Her heart, she can't speak for.

She's still got a little fight in her, she's not ready to give in to him just yet. But just for tonight, she's done pretending.


End file.
